1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to online financial systems for completing various financial transactions. Particularly, the present invention relates to an online, real-time system that allows a user to submit financial card application data and accept a financial card offer from a participating financial institution as based on predefined applicant selection criteria.
2. Description of Related Art
Financial institutions interested in locating new customers for their financial cards (such as credit cards, debit cards, etc.) often rely on direct mailings. These institutions may review personal information regarding income, education, assets (e.g., home ownership), and credit histories before deciding to solicit certain potential customers. In addition, the institutions determine the terms of the financial card offer (e.g., credit limit, interest rate, yearly fee, etc.) which are known in the industry as the "federal boxes." Using detailed selection criteria (e.g., female college graduates who own homes and have incomes over $25,000.00) and offer terms, an institution may send financial card applications to potential customers. These direct mailings are very expensive given the number of recipients who actually respond. The number is generally believed to be less than two percent (2%). Furthermore, because of the lead time and intensive labor required for printing, assembling, and mailing the financial card application packages, an institution must determine the selection criteria and the financial card terms long before the packages are sent. For a given direct mail campaign, once the process begins, there is little, if any, opportunity to change either the selection criteria or the terms. As a result, there is little opportunity to experiment or tune the process to find the most successful combinations of selection criteria and associated financial card terms. Even if the financial institution is willing to incur the costs associated with multiple direct mail campaigns, the target recipients may resent the repeated solicitations.
In addition to the disadvantages of the process for financial institutions, potential customers are also inconvenienced. Those direct mail recipients who are not interested in the offers must sort the "junk mail" from their regular personal and business mail. Those recipients who are interested in the offers must complete the applications manually, mail them back to the financial institutions, wait for them to be processed, and then wait for the financial card to arrive in the mail. Furthermore, some interested customers simply may be missed because, for a variety of reasons, they never make it on a mailing list. Customers who decide to shop on their own for a new financial card may be required to make inquiries at a number of financial institutions, each of which must analyze the applicant's data to determine which, if any, card is appropriate for the applicant. This process is time-consuming because multiple telephone calls are needed and the same information must be repeated for each institution. Furthermore, the potential customer may need to take notes regarding each offer or wait for offer information in the mail in order to compare the offers.
In general, the direct mail method makes it difficult for financial institutions and potential customers to connect. First, the application package may get lost in the mail or, if the intended recipient has moved, the application package may never reach the intended recipient. The inability to easily alter selection criteria and associated financial card term data may mean that would-be customers are excluded from the direct mail process. The lack of a single source of financial card application information makes it difficult for potential customers to learn of or review their options.